dave

The only reason I know it is because of Trick 'r Treat

you can't really blame people for not getting the pronunciation of samhain right because of how it's spelled. that isn't common knowledge. it's fine to correct somebody in an effort to educate them, but don't be that guy. You know THAT guy. lol

I don't want to see bill & Ted ever go away. Even during years where it's lackluster it helps with the crowds. The more shows, the better. Set scare zones properly decorated. If they can't do it because of the day parade, bring back festival of the dead for nights. Definitely shoot for 8 houses. That is a reasonable amount to go through in one night if the attendance is regulated properly. I think they oversell to push express upgrades though. For the love of god, don't remove monster's cafe. The website this past year was weak. They should have an easy to follow/navigate homepage with a link to a more interactive site so that general visitors and hardcore fans are both satisfied. I'm not big on Facebook, so I don't really care for too much implementation in that regard. Everything there should be mirrored on the main site. I'd like to see the return of an icon for the event. An improved smartphone app that's worth downloading and actually works well. I doubt I'm the only one who had issues with it (iOS version). House & show ideas: How about a face/off show where volunteers are selected from the audience to be made up and then the audience votes on the winner. Could be fun, informational, interactive, and bring the horror makeup show outside (or they could actually do it in that theater instead of using that space for private parties). Bigfoot house. Might even be able to put it in ET queue. Alien Abduction or Autopsy house, maybe Area 51 themed. Creepy Crawlers house. Rats, snakes, roaches, spiders, bees or wasps, etc. Anything like that people have a phobia of. Maybe put a mutant spin on it for the scareactors, like its a research lab of a mad scientist or something. Hell, he could even be the icon with his shtick being "experiments in fear". Neighborhood Halloween haunt turned bad. Starts out like you're trick-or-treating at a suburban house celebrating the holiday with a backyard maze complete with cheap props, then you start seeing "real" gore scenes. American Horror Story house. Could be done every year as long as the show is on the air with an updated story. Guillermo Del Toro house. Give him free reign or do it based on several of his movies. Not sure how fresh "mama" would be by then, might not be able to sustain a whole house. An Evil Dead house. The new movie looks like it will be awesome and scary. Troll 2 house . . . oh yeah! I wonder how hard it would be to secure the rights. Horror fans would eat that up. Anyway, just some ideas/wishful thinking I'm throwing out there.

Dead End and Gothic are definitely repeat worthy. Penn & teller and Alice cooper are not, in my opinion.

I was there on Sunday. According to my wait time texts, walking dead was at 120 minutes at 8pm. It dropped to 100 by 8:30 and then stabled off at 90 through 11pm. Silent hill was 90 minutes from like 8 to 10.

There are always a few people that treat characters/scareactors terribly. They just never stop to think that there is a person behind the mask or in the suit. They're just ignorant.

Probably safe to stick to horrorlando's plan even if coming in during normal opening. The two nights that I've gone this year the walking dead was easily the busiest house. This past Thursday the average wait time for TWD was 2 hours most of the night. The soundstage houses (silent hill, gothic, dead end) averaged an hour wait most of the night. Absolutely do the houses right away before anything else. No rides, no shows, no meal breaks. I know I sound a little militant, but it's for your own good. This time of the month (not a period joke) even the off peak nights can get busy. Also, get there early. Even though the event may officially start at 6:30, they will open it at 6 if the park sweep went quickly. The park will close at 5 which gives them plenty of time to get everyone out and give annual pass holders/stay & scream guests a head start. Speaking of head starts, hotel guests get early access to the parks in the morning. So if you want to go to harry potter land, do yourself a favor and get to IOA at opening on saturday and just go straight there. And if there are people/signs directing you to go left/clockwise from the front of the park (port of entry) to get to Harry potter, ignore them. Go right/counter-clockwise. They can suggest, but they can't force you to go the other way. If you go all the way around clockwise past Jurassic park you may find yourself in a queue just to even get in that area, never mind the long wait time for the ride. Congrats on winning those tickets, and hope you have a great first HHN! Oh, and if you end up not getting to hit all the houses before the wait times get long, you might be able to get discounted express if you wait until later in the night. When I was there last time I overheard an employee telling a guest that at 10pm express dropped from $60 to $35. It should be cheaper than that on a Sunday though as initial price for express is $40. Unless they don't discount on Sundays of course.

Could have sworn I heard music from dead silence and TCM remake near the bridge area when I went. Also thought I heard Gregorian chant in gothic.

Yeah, there is no free parking after 6 for FL residents during horror nights. That promo is suspended for this event and Mardi gras. Annual Pass (second tier) is the best deal for parking you're going to find. I'd have one right now if it were in my budget, but I'm probably only going to be able to use my FF pass a few times, so it's cheaper just to pay the fine. The reason they charge for parking is because they can. Universal can pay all of their in-park payroll costs for the day on parking alone.

This house was alright. Good theme, somewhat accurate sets, but for some reason not really scary. Not enough nurses. Pyramid head not menacing enough (he had no sword!). I can't say I'm the biggest silent hill fan, but I've played the original game and bits of some of the others as well as seen the movie. I think they could have made this house scarier. Maybe it just needs to be a bit more darkly lit and more populated. I still liked it, but I wasn't wowed.

I was able to hit this house while there was still daylight left. Since much of the show takes place during day, especially most of the scenes represented, I think it's more immersive to go then. I still want to experience it at night, but there is so much detail included in the set that I think you could miss in the dark. Merle's hacksaw and Darryl's crossbow for example. Also, this was a very popular/busy house. I highly recommend making it your first priority when you arrive. Being a fan of the show and zombies in general, I was looking forward to this house a lot. It was my most anticipated house. Although it wasn't very populated when I went through (one could say that it was "dead inside" *cue rimshot*), I still gotta say that it delivered. There were some cool effects and good scares. I was pleased. One of the best of the event for me.

Well, this was my least favorite house of the event. I'm not all that familiar with Alice cooper beyond the popular hits, and even then I don't know the lyrics besides the choruses. It just seemed generic to me because of that. I liked the stained glass window at least.

I was in line for this house in torrential downpour waiting for it to open. Everybody was completely drenched. But, Penn & Teller came out and walked down the whole line greeting people. I guess it was their way of saying thanks/apologizing for the delay. However they were not at the end of the house for us. As far as the house, it was alright but didn't leave too much of an impression on me. 3 boobs dealer and secret clown were cool though. Of course I was at my most miserable moment of the day having just been soaked, lol.

I enjoyed this house as well. I was happy to see the classic monsters represented, and it was an interesting take on the dead exposure concept. My favorite scare of the whole night was in this house in the bride of Frankenstein room. I don't want to say exactly what it was for fear of spoiling it, but it was the single most suspenseful scare I think I've encountered at HHN ever. Of course I have a soft spot for Frankenstein's monster since it was the first thing I was ever scared of as a kid.

I loved this house! Some really cool effects and great scares. Very atmospheric. If you like ghost movies, you're gonna dig this. Think walk through haunted mansion with a more serious tone.

Awesome house, such a cool concept. Probably the best set design of this year. The gargoyles were amazing.

I went with a buddy of mine to the annual passholder area. Got soaked before even getting into the first house, lol. Stayed that way for five freaking hours. Still hit all the houses, but didn't see any scareactors in the streets until I was on my way out of the park (around 10 or so). So far I'd rank the houses: Dead End Gothic Walking Dead/Universal Monsters Silent Hill Penn & Teller Alice Cooper

The highest tier annual pass features free regular valet except for during HHN and Mardi Gras. That message is just UO reminding people. You should still be able to get free regular self-parking. Part of the reason people go from 1st tier to 2nd tier is for the free parking. It pays for itself. Not only that, but HHN parking doesn't start until like 6. Just get there early and go in the park to ride something if you're a pass holder, lol.

Yeah, you gotta be a guest of an employee

Not really a fan of gross out gags, but I do love illusionists so I will most likely be checking this show out

I'm all for the no zones thing as long as there is still good theming and atmosphere in the park (which I'm sure there will be). I've also attended nearly every year, and while I have enjoyed set zones I really think this direction could lead to a more immersive event. Think of it as the park being one big scare zone.

Gothic? That's the city batman stays at! Seriously though, I also think that's a code name or at the very least only a part of the full title.

About the Victorian house, poltergeist has been thrown around in reference but what about amityville? seems to make a better connection to me.

Yeah, that would make sense . . . digging up something from the past, supernatural

What if he gets the new nightmare treatment and is more eviler/sinister? Yes, I know that "eviler" isn't a real word